Most stocks are fundamentally the same kind of investment: they’re shares of ownership in a corporation. There are a few exceptions, however. One is “Master Limited Partnerships” (MLPs), which are popular among many investors because they tend to have very high yields. MLPs trade on stock exchanges just like other stocks, but there are important differences from both a legal perspective and an investment perspective.

Despite numerous predictions that bond yields would soar (and therefore bond prices would fall), yields have actually fallen so far in 2014. After rising from record lows last year, the yield on 10-year US treasury bonds is currently around 2.5%, still far below its typical historical range. How long can bond yields stay so low? The answer is “possibly a very long time” based on the experiences of other countries.